The present invention relates generally to new and novel guards for fish hooks or similar articles. More particularly, the present invention relates to guards which are capable of being readily mounted to fish hooks or similar articles and which when so mounted surround and shield the fish hooks from inadvertent contact.
The potential danger from an unguarded fish hook or similar article is well recognized. When fishing from a boat, or off-shore, fishermen often leave their tackle boxes open to permit access to lures, sinkers, leaders, bait or other equipment needed while fishing. In many cases, there are two or more fishermen together in a boat who assist each other in relatively cramped quarters. For example, one fisherman can assist another in netting a fish and bringing the fish into the boat. Once a fish is successfully brought into the boat, it often flops around, sometimes knocking the contents of the tackle boxes around the boat. At the same time, the fishermen may be reaching into their tackle boxes to get pliers, stringers or other supplies to unhook and secure the fish. Thus, the possibility of inadvertent contact with unguarded fishing hooks and other sharp objects present in the tackle boxes is readily apparent. A further danger when fishing off-shore is that children, animals and other individuals may become entangled with the contents of open tackle boxes.
Several types of guards for fishing hooks and similar articles have been used. Variations of one type of fish hook guard are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,703,467 to Shepherd, U.S. Pat. No. 2,204,185 to Lougheed, U.S. Pat. No. 1,255,516 to Daller, U.S. Pat. No. 3,331,152 to Starrett, U.S. Design Pat. No. Des. 167,803 to Miller, U.S. Pat. No. 4,614,054 to Fovenyessy, U.S. Pat. No. 2,932,118 to Jend, and U.S. Pat. No. 2,775,060 to Barker. With this type of fish hook guard, the fish hook is generally dropped vertically into a channel having side walls of a sufficient height to shield the fish hook from inadvertent contact. One drawback to this type of fish hook guard is that the width of the channel is often not sufficiently tight for the fish hook guard to remain secured to the fish hook. In such cases, the fish hook guard can drop off of or be easily disengaged from the fish hook, thus presenting a safety hazard. Several of the prior art fish hook guards of this type have utilized extending projections such as dimples within the channel to more securely retain the fish hook within the channel. While such projections make the fish hook guard less prone to drop off, or disengage from the fish hook, they present another hazard. In order to remove the fish hook guard from the fish hook, it is necessary to grasp both the fish hook as well as the fish hook guard and pull the two apart. Often the tendency is for the user to grasp the fish hook guard across the channel and pull out the fish hook. However, this is often unproductive since by holding the fish hook guard across the channel, the channel can collapse, thus, retaining the fish hook even move securely within the channel. The user may then attempt to hold the fish hook guard on the top surface of the channel. However, this presents a hazard in that the user's fingers are in the vicinity of the sharp barbs of the fish hook as it exits the channel through the top surface of the channel. This can cause the user's unprotected fingers to be vulnerable to penetration by the sharp barbs of the fish hook.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,833,814 to Zygutis has attempted to solve this problem by including a finger guard radially extending from the top surface of the fish hook guard. While this finger guard attempts to keep the user's fingers below and away from the top surface, it is often ineffective at achieving this goal. To remove the fish hook from the fish hook guard in such a manner it is necessary to grasp the fish hook guard below the finger guard and across the channel. This tends to collapse the channel. Since it is difficult to remove the hook from the channel while collapsed, many users have the tendency to instead grasp the outside portion of the finger guard itself, thus, again exposing the user's unprotected fingers to the top of the channel and potentially the sharp barbs of the fish hook during removal of the fish hook from the fish hook guard. Thus, the finger guard as disclosed in this reference often provides only minimal protection to the user's fingers.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,616,209 discloses a shield for fish hooks having outside ribs or ledges provided adjacent the lower end of a body. These outside ribs or ledges extend between adjacent side walls to form "a convenient grip whereby the shield may be manipulated onto and removed from the gang of hooks." Another embodiment disclosed in this patent includes a series of ledges on the lower end of the body between the walls so that the shield may be gripped for manipulating it onto and off a gang of hooks. However, since the outside ribs or ledges disclosed in this patent extend only for a limited radial distance, they are often ineffective in precluding the user's fingers from gripping the shield across the channel enclosing the fish hook. Thus, the user may still collapse the channel enclosing the fish hook and preclude removal of the fish hook from the shield. This can cause the user to grip the shield on the top surface of the channel, rather than on the outside ribs or ledges, thus potentially exposing the user's unprotected fingers to the sharp barbs of the fish hook as it exits the channel through the top surface of the channel.
A second type of fish hook guard utilizes a pad into which the sharp barbs of the fish hook are embedded or, alternatively, openings which shield the sharp barbs of the fish hook, and a centrally located opening through which the shank of the fish hook passes. Variations of this type of fish hook guard are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,121,368 to Norwood, U.S. Pat. No. 2,482,881 to Sonner, Jr., U.S. Pat. No. 2,771,704 to Biggs, U.S. Pat. No. 3,363,357 to Sokol, U.S. Pat. No. 2,685,756 to Mowbray, U.S. Pat. No. 3,722,128 to Tremblay, U.S. Pat. No. 2,812,611 to Messick, U.S. Pat. No. 2,095,048 to Aikins and U.S. Pat. No. 2,165,708 to Jend. With this type of fish hook guard, if the sharp barbs of the fish hook are not securely embedded into the pad, the fish hook guard is generally free to slide up and down on the fish hook shank. This can expose the sharp barbs of the fish hook and creates a potential for injury to the user or permits the fish hook to become entangled with other fish hooks or equipment present in the fisherman's tackle box. On the other hand, if the sharp barbs of the fish hook are securely embedded into the pad, the fish hook can be difficult to pull out of the pad. Thus, the user can again become injured if the user's fingers are in the path of the sharp barbs of the fish hook while pulling the fish hook from the pad.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,711,611 to Miner shows a fish hook guard where an annular band of resilient material is stretched over the fish hook. Such a fish hook guard must be specifically dimensioned for each particular size of hook. If the fish hook guard is too small, it will be difficult to properly install on the fish hook. On the other hand, if the fish hook guard is too large, it will not properly retain the fish hook, and may fall off the fish hook.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,743,547 to Horst shows a fish hook guard which consists of a centrally positioned helical spring mounted within a cup-shaped housing. To install the fish hook into the fish hook guard, one must position the fish hook at the top helical coil of the spring and rotate the fish hook guard in relation to the fish hook to progressively engage the fish hook within the helical coils of the spring. Rotation in the opposite direction will disengage the fish hook from the fish hook guard. Such rotations of the fish hook guard in relation to the fish hook takes time and effort. Also, the fish hook guard can inadvertently rotate and become disengaged from the fish hook.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,185,507 to Knapp shows a fish hook guard with a plurality of arms which correspond to the number of sharp barbs in the fish hook. These arms extend radially outward from a central portion. Each arm includes an elongated slot which permits the sharp barb of the fish hook to extend through the elongated slot and positions the sharp barb inward of the arm. While such an arrangement does provide some protection from the sharp barbs of the fish hook, the sharp barbs remain exposed and, thus, can still cause potential injury to the user or become entangled with other equipment in a fisherman's tackle box.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,670,445 shows a fish hook guard which consists of a short length of tubing which has an internal diameter slightly less than the maximum cross sectional dimension of the fish hook at the point of the sharp barb. While such a fish hook guard does provide some protection, the problem of the fishing hook becoming entangled with other equipment in the fisherman's hook becoming entangled with other equipment in the fisherman's tackle box is still present. Also, three such fish hook guards are necessary to cover the three separate sharp barbs in a treble fish hook. Further, the small size of the fish hook guard can cause the fish hook guards to be easily lost or mixed in with other equipment in the fisherman's tackle box when not in use.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,645,419 to Shorrock shows a combination fish hook guard and float. The fish hook guard and float consists of two pivotably connected semispherical hollow parts which enclose and completely surround the fish hook. Because the fish hook is completely enclosed, such a fish hook guard and float cannot be used on a fish hook which is attached to a lure. Also, it is sometimes desirable for a fisherman to rinse and dry fish hooks after they have been used. For example, after fishing in salt water, it is often advantageous to rinse the lures and fish hooks used to remove salt and other chemicals which, if left on the fish hooks, could corrode and degrade the fish hooks. However, the semispherical hollow parts in this combination fish hook guard and float have only one small opening through which a fishing line can pass. Thus, it would be necessary to first remove the fish hook from the combination fish hook guard and float to permit rinsing of the fish hook. Further, moisture which does enter into the interior of the fish hook guard and float is not readily drained, potentially resulting in corrosion and degradation of the fish hook secured within the fish hook guard and float.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is the provision of a fish hook guard which will readily accommodate fish hooks of various sizes.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a fish hook guard which permits drainage of moisture present within the interior of the fish hook guard.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a fish hook guard which allows the fish hook to be rinsed to remove salt and other chemicals present on the fish hook without necessitating removal of the fish hook from the fish hook guard.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a fish hook guard which completely surrounds the sharp barbs of a fish hook to minimize the risk of inadvertent injury to the user and entanglement of the fish hook with other equipment in a fisherman's tackle box.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a fish hook guard which can be readily used on fish hooks attached to a lure or other object.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a fish hook guard which is readily removable from a fish hook and does not require pulling or jerking to remove the fish hook guard from the fish hook.
Yet still another object of the present invention is to provide a fish hook guard which is economical to produce, durable in construction, and capable of being quickly and easily installed on and removed form a fish hook by an individual user.
These and other objects of the present invention are attained by the provision of an enclosure fabricated from a plastic material which encloses and shields the sharp barb portion of a fish hook. In some preferred embodiments, the enclosure consists of a generally circular flat base portion with a radially extending slot which extends from one edge of the base portion to a location immediately past a center point in the base portion and a corresponding cover portion which has multiple openings to permit drainage of moisture from the interior of the fish hook guard. Base portion and cover portion are preferably pivotably connected to permit the insertion and removal of the fish hook from the fish hook guard. Preferably, either the cover portion or the base portion includes at least one vertically extending projection which assists in providing rotational orientation of the fish hook within the fish hook guard.
In other preferred embodiments, the fish hook guard consists of a base portion having a radius support member which positions a fish hook having a single sharp barb within the base portion. The base portion is preferably pivotably connected to a cover portion which covers and encloses the sharp barb of the fish hook. Both the base portion and the cover portion preferably include multiple openings which permit drainage of moisture from the interior of the fish hook guard
In yet other preferred embodiments, the fish hook guard consists of an enclosure which includes at one end an opening which corresponds to the radius portions of the fish hook and a channel extending from the opening. The channel preferably includes at least one inwardly extending projection which assists in retaining the fish hook within the channel. At the end of the enclosure opposite to the opening, a web extends radially at least as far as the channel to provide the user with a convenient and accessible surface to grip the fish hook guard without compression of the channel during removal of the fish hook from the fish hook guard.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings